In 1999, when the topic of IT security was far from being as important as it is today and the number of security providers was still manageable, when no one was talking about cloud, the IoT or ransomware attacks, the it-sa then started as a small specialized IT security conference and exhibition integrated as part in the IT and Telco trade fair SYSTEMS in Munich. As we all know, these times are long gone and so, paralleled with the dynamic development of the IT security industry, the it-sa has undergone an enormous transformation process within the last 20 years. In 2018, at its tenth anniversary at the present location Nuremberg in Northern Bavaria, the trade fair has set some new amazing records: With 696 exhibitors from 27 countries and the attendance of nearly 15,000 visitors from more than 50 countries, the it-sa 2018 is the largest IT security trade fair of the world. Compared with the world´s most relevant IT Sec exhibitions, the it-sa even beat RSA San Francisco and Infosecurity London with “only” 600 respectively 400 exhibitors this year.

Meet real cybersecurity decision-makers at just one event
For us as a cybersecurity specialized PR agency, the it-sa has long been the most important trade fair and congress of the year, and so it is for all our clients. But the reason why it-sa is a must-attend for all security vendors that want to win the DACH market, is of course not just the pure size of the trade fair but its quality. The most important reason to spend money and engage as a sponsor, speaker or exhibitor at it-sa is certainly the quality of the visitors, and thus the opportunity to generate real and promising leads. Our own observations, but above all the feedback from our clients, has shown that it-sa has become a platform for IT decision-makers, CIOs and employees with managerial responsibility. This fact is also confirmed by the it-sa statistics. 84% of the visitors in 2018 are involved in purchasing decisions in their company and therefore these are interesting prospects for our clients. As a matter of fact, the it-sa again differs from many other large security exhibitions in Europe and around the world, where often one can find hordes of the visitors who mainly zero in on giveaways.

Meet the leading journalists from all over Europe within only 4 days
Besides generating leads by presenting your products and solutions at the booth, in presentations and panel discussions, the it-sa also provides a platform for extensive media and analyst relations. As a meeting place for leading journalists, blogger, influencer and analysts from all over DACH and even Europe, the it-sa offers opportunities for in-depth media briefings, interviews, analyst meetings, media webcasts, podcasts etc. like no other event or congress does. This is a chance vendors must not miss.

This year, our agency team was able to arrange and manage an average of 14 interviews and analyst meetings for each of our clients who attended. Besides exciting meetings at the booths and the opportunity to initiate long-lasting and valuable relationships with the journalists, these interviews resulted in excellent coverage including the publication of webcast videos which significantly increases visibility in the media.

Good preparation = great PR success
Good preparation is the key for our clients’ success in every respect and especially regarding PR. We therefore develop individual it-sa plans for each client months before the event and start our activities at an early stage. This includes producing a number of press releases to announce our client’s attendance, the application for speaker slots, drafting award submissions for the it-security awards, identifying media sponsor opportunities, organizing press conferences at the exhibition, reaching out to journalists and analysts to arrange meetings and briefings and posting on social media during the event.

The weeks before it-sa and above all the four days at Nuremberg itself are a stressful time for both our agency team and the spokes people of our clients – but meeting interesting people, having the opportunity to attend outstanding key notes and especially the great PR success achieved following it-sa is definitely worth the effort. So we are looking forward to a successful it-sa 2019.